Beam: $15 wage has tough road ahead

Fast food workers in this country want
to unionize without interference from employers and make $15 an hour.
They are taking
to the streets to increase awareness of their cause. Find people
who think $15 an hour is a good idea, and the odds are you
will also find an equal number who will either say it is an
unrealistic goal or that they don’t care one way or the other.

The current federal minimum wage is
$7.25 per hour, which amounts to $15,000 a year for full-time employees.
Some cities and
states have higher minimum wages. Washington state has the highest
state minimum wage — $9.19 an hour. There is also a push
in Seattle to raise the minimum to $15 an hour, which is about
$31,000 a year. San Francisco has the highest city minimum
wage — $10.50 an hour.

Nationwide protests that were held
Thursday were organized by unions and community groups. Some critics of
the movement say
it’s an effort by unions to increase their membership rolls. The
Associated Press reports the Service Employees International
Union, which represents more than 2 million workers nationwide,
has provided money and training for those engaged in the protests.

Community organizers are also promoting the cause. Fox Business News quoted the Rev. Martin Rafanan, an organizer in St. Louis.

“This is the opportunity to have
concerted action in the workplace without retaliation,” Rafanan said.
“It needs to be open
to these workers to talk and form a union on their own, which is
their right. They have limited hours, no control over their
hours, don’t get paid sick leave and in many cases, face
disrespect in the workplace.”

Supporters of the $15 wage are going to find stiff opposition. President Obama found that out quickly after he proposed during
his February State of the Union address to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour in 2015. He also wants to increase
the $2.13 an hour paid to waiters and waitresses who rely on tips to supplement their wages, but didn’t suggest an amount.

Even the president’s fairly realistic
$9 an hour ran into a wall of protests. Spokesmen for the National
Restaurant Association
said the typical restaurant operates on an average pre-tax profit
of 3 to 4 percent. They say any additional labor costs will
negatively impact their ability to hire and to keep all current
employees. Obamacare already has employers talking about reducing
hours and employee numbers.

Spokesmen for McDonald’s and Burger
King said their companies don’t make pay decisions for independent
franchisees that operate
most of the restaurants in this country. Others argue that minimum
wage jobs aren’t meant to be full-time careers. They say
it is something people do for a short time before moving on to
better-paying jobs.

The Economic Policy Institute
disagrees. EPI said the average age of low-wage workers today is 35 and
more than a third are
40 or older. The organization describes itself as a non-profit,
non-partisan think tank created in 1986 to broaden discussions
about economic policy to include the needs of low- and
middle-income workers.

The Employment Policies Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, talks about another downside to the higher wage. It said
$15 an hour will lead to more automation in the fast food industry, cost-cutting measures and fewer entry-level jobs.

Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist in
Seattle, supports the higher wage. He is often quoted for his belief
that $15 an hour
would produce positive results. He said the higher wage would make
low-income families less dependent on government programs.
He said the Congressional Budget Office reports those making the
minimum wage received $316 billion in 2012 from government
programs like food stamps, Medicaid and housing assistance.

“Raising the minimum wage to $15 an
hour would inject about $450 billion into the economy each year,”
Hanauer said. “That
would give more purchasing power to millions of poor and
middle-income Americans, and would stimulate buying, production and
hiring.”

The Times-Picayune traced the history
of the minimum wage movement after Obama’s message. President Franklin
D. Roosevelt
implemented the first minimum wage in 1936, which was 25 cents an
hour. The newspaper said the wage went up fairly regularly
to adjust for inflation, but slowed down over the last three
decades. The $7.25 minimum was established in 2007. Using the
rate in 1968 as a base, the minimum would be equal to $10 with
today’s cost of living, the Picayune said.

The 2010 Census figures show that over
165,000 workers in Louisiana earn less than $10,000 a year, over 118,000
earn between
$10,000 and $14,999 and over 213,000 make between $15,000 and
$24,999. The total is just under a half-million workers making
below $25,000 a year, which is 25 percent of the state’s nearly 2
million workforce.

Workers seeking a $15 per hour wage may
find public apathy to be their biggest hurdle. One fast food customer
in New York
told The AP he supports their cause and realizes they work harder
“than billionaires in this city.” However, he said he doesn’t
plan to stop his regular trips to McDonald’s. Businesses at other
protest sites around the country said some of their customers
weren’t even aware of the movement and it was business as usual
when the protesters left.

Many fast food customers don’t want anyone upsetting their daily routine that allows them to get a quick meal at a reasonable
price.

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Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than five decades. Contact him at 494-4025 or jbeam@americanpress.com